boot from USB HDD

[rossman]

I removed the original HDD that came with my T42 and installed it in a USB enclosure. I installed a new HDD in the T42 and installed Ubuntu Linux on it. Now I want to boot XP from the original HDD in the USB HDD. I plugged in the USB HDD and rebooted and it booted Ubuntu. The BIOS is set to select USB first. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Ross

[kaiser]

... What am I doing wrong?

You are trying to run Windows from an USB HDD.
You could try to build a modified Version of Windows using Barts PE and install that on the USB drive. A normal Windows won't boot from USB.

With Barts PE there will stay some drawbacks, Programs have to be installed as PlugIns so you can't easily add every program you see somewhere. You have to know what Directories and Files it writes when running and which registry keys it needs. For me Barts PE is just an alternative to a Knoppix or sysresccd.org CD.

--
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

edit: doesn't this thread belong more to the software section?

[ddutta]

My gut feeling is that Windows wont boot out of the box from USB devices. I run Mandrake 10.1 from a USB drive and that works out of the box. Does Ubuntu run out of the box from USB drives?

[kaiser]

... Does Ubuntu run out of the box from USB drives?

i found a 10-point HowTo on the german ubuntu-users-Wiki. interested in a (bad) Translation if i have time at afternoon?

[rossman]

I'm confused (obviously). What CAN you boot from USB (besides Linux)? Why do the T42's have this option?

[Ground Loop]

I'm confused (obviously). What CAN you boot from USB (besides Linux)? Why do the T42's have this option?

The T42 does its part. It is Windows that can not boot from USB, probably intentionally. It simply doesn't look there for its boot media, so once the BIOS is done booting and Windows drivers take over, it can't find C:\ any more.

Linux has no such hangups and is smart enough to boot from wherever you like.

You can also boot the Windows install media from USB. Just to install, not to run.
And the IBM rescue CD-ROMs.
And Linux.

I keep a USB Thumdrive with SLAX on it, just to have a safe/fast boot environment that doesn't rely on anything on the hard drive.

[GomJabbar]

I don't know if this means anything or not, but I was reading in the Rescue and Recovery area on my T42, something about booting from a USB floppy drive. It said that only IBM USB floppy drives P/N 05K9276 and P/N 22P7056 were supported.

If the BIOS checks for a supported USB drive to boot from (simular to how it checks for supported Mini PCI wireless cards), could this be the problem? Linux may have the ability to bypass the BIOS somehow. I don't know, just a thought. I'm probably barking up the wrong tree.

[boofoo]

You can install the rescue disk stuff on a USB hard drive (I have this setup) and boot from it -- works perfectly (you just have to be careful not to overwrite what's already on the disk!).